Before The Boy Who Lived
by four-marauders-marauding
Summary: Before that fateful night in Godric's Hollow, before the prophecy was made and before the Boy Who Lived, there was one young witch and wizard. Their names were James Potter and Lily Evans. This is their story.
1. Chapter 1

You must know, first and foremost, that this is not a fairy tale. It is a love story but it does not have a happy ending. It has a rocky beginning and a very happy middle but it does not end well. But I will not be telling that part of the story, as it has been told many times and I don't think my heart would be able to take it. However, I will be telling you the tale of how two people, despite the circumstances, managed to make each other very happy, and give each other forever within numbered days.

* * *

**10:24am, the Evans household**

"LILY! Hurry up or you're going to miss the train!"

"I'm coming, Mum!" sixteen-year-old Lily Evans called back as she dragged her trunk down the stairs, wincing as it hit the back of her legs on each step. "Okay," she panted, "I'm ready."

"Great," her mother smiled, "Can you ask your father to put your trunk in the car? And make sure you grab Snaps, and then we'll be ready to go!"

Lily nodded before dashing up the stairs again to retrieve her tawny owl, Snaps, which she had gotten before her first year at Hogwarts.

Fifteen minutes later the Evans clan, which included Lily; the youngest, Petunia; Lily's older sister, and their parents, Rob and Christine Evans, arrived Kings Cross station.

"Now, have an _amazing_ last year!" Lily's father was saying to her as she was saying her goodbyes. "Make sure it's one to remember!"

"Thanks dad," Lily grinned, "I'm sure you'll hear all about it in the holidays!"

He winked at her before Lily's attention was turned to her mother.

"I'm sure you will be very responsible, but make sure to have fun every once in a while! I know you'll be the best Head Girl Hogwarts has ever seen!" Christine told her.

"Thanks mum," Lily laughed, "I'll miss you both! And you too, Petunia!" The last part directed at her sister who was feeling extremely out of place surrounded by witches and wizards saying their goodbyes to loved ones.

"Whatever," she muttered, tapping her brand new engagement ring against her elbow, "Bye."

Lily rolled her eyes, used to her sister's continuous resentment towards her. She cast a glance at her parents who were giving each other worried glances; they hated to see their daughters fighting.

"Well, I better get on the train," Lily mumbled.

"Yes, yes you should," her mother said as she began fretting over her youngest daughter. Flatting down her hair and looking her over.

"Mum I'm fine," Lily smiled.

"I know, I'm just going to miss you!"

Lily softened a little, before reassuring her mother that she will be alright.

"I'll be back before you know it. Don't worry about me; I'm going to be fine."

Christine smiled softly before wrapping her daughter in a tight hug.

"Mum – air!"

"Oops – sorry sweetie!" Christine chuckled.

Lily then turned to her father who gave her an even more bone-crushing hug.

He pulled back to look at her and smiled.

"Have a great time, love."

"I will, Dad, thanks."

With a last hug to both her parents and a wave in Petunia's direction, which was not returned, Lily made her way onto the train after lugging her trunk onto it. As she made her way to the usual compartment her friends and herself usually occupied she met an unexpected visitor.

"Hey, Evans."

Lily inwardly groaned. James Potter. Her arch enemy. The bane of her existence. Whatever you wanted to call it.

"What do you want, Potter?"

"Can't I say 'hi' to you without you getting mad?" Potter questioned, his cocky attitude dampened slightly.

"Uh, I guess you can," Lily replied, slightly confused as to how James Potter, who was always cocky, arrogant and stuck up, could be even the slightest bit sad that she had rejected him.

"I see you've been made Head Girl," James smiled, nodding towards the shiny badge which was pinned onto Lily's black and white striped sweater, "I knew you would get it, Dumbledore'd be mad to give it to anybody else."

"Um, thanks," Lily mumbled, turning bright red at the compliment.

"I'll see you around, Evans."

"Yeah... Bye Potter."

As James walked off Lily unpinned the Head Girl badge from her sweater; she didn't love attention and she knew everyone would make a big deal of it. As she stowed the badge safely in her bag she pondered how the boy who was so rude and arrogant last year, managed to finally shrink his ego inflated head, even slightly.

Vowing to dwell on the matter later, Lily set out to find her friends. As she reached the compartment she grinned as she opened the door.

"LILY!" Several voices screamed upon her entrance.

Lily's best friends all piled onto her, engulfing her in a bone-crushing hug, not dissimilar to the one that her mother gave her before boarding the train.

As they pulled back Lily looked around at them and smiled.

Alice Prewett, Lily's first and very best friend at Hogwarts, had cut her thick blonde hair into a pixie cut over the summer which suited her greatly. Her crystal blue eyes twinkled as she took in Lily. Alice and Lily were like sisters; they shared clothes, gave each other advice and knew all each other's secrets.

Another one of Lily's friends, Marlene McKinnon, had dark brown eyes which stood out from her long blonde hair. She was the most out-there of the group and a Beater on the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

Mary McDonald, a tiny brunette who was wearing quite a bit of makeup was extremely well-spoken. She never held back what she wanted to say even if it was rude, which often offended others, but her friends knew that was just her personality and took it in stride. Mary had friends all over Hogwarts and the Gryffindor girls could always rely on her to report any gossip back to them.

The shyest of the Gryffindor girls would have to be Emmeline Vance. Emmeline, known mostly as Em or Emma, was very shy until you got to know her; she was quite a hidden gem. Emma had modest beauty with her long shimmering blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Although she enjoyed her fair share of fun, she would often be found in the library studying or reading.

"How was your summer?" Alice exclaimed.

"Give me a minute to sit down, will you?" Lily muttered, shaking her head at her friend's antics.

The girls laughed and all sat down together.

"Well! How were your holidays?" Mary insisted.

"Not very exciting actually. Petunia got engaged to the whale," Lily sighed.

The four girls groaned in disgust.

"Eurgh, really?" Marlene snorted. "Doesn't she have eyes or..."

Her comment sent the girls into a round of laughter, effectively forgetting about the engagement of Lily's older sister.

After talking for a while and catching up, Lily suddenly remembered her Head Girl duties.

Fumbling around in her bag, she found her badge and pinned it onto the front of her robes.

Alice gasped.

"Head Girl?! Oh my God I knew you would get it! I'm so happy – congratulations!" she squealed as she gave her best friend a hug.

The other girls, hearing Alice's cries, turned to Lily and also engulfed her in a hug, yelling their congratulations.

"Déjà vu," Lily mumbled.

The girls laughed and let her go.

"Well, I have to get to the Heads compartment to speak to the Prefects… wait, do any of you guys know who the Head Boy is? I'm kind of hoping it's Remus, he really deserves it and he's such a great friend," Lily remarked.

"No idea," Mary said, as she pushed her out the door, "see you later!"

A confused Lily glanced back at Alice once more before she was shoved out the door.

"What was that about?" Marlene asked.

"You do know who the Head Boy is, right?" Mary told her seriously.

"No…"

"It's James."

"James _Potter_?!" Emma shrieked.

"How many other James' do we know?" Mary sighed, "Yes, James Potter. And this is the _perfect_ opportunity to get them together! God knows they would make such a great couple! Lily's just too stubborn to see it."

"I agree," Alice said, to the girls' surprise, as Alice was normally on Lily's side when it came to the subject of James Potter, "James has loved Lily forever but she is just too fixed to realize that him asking her out all the time isn't just a joke."

Marlene and Emma nodded understandingly.

"Now we just need to figure out how to get them together."

* * *

"Sorry guys, I have to go now."

"Aww Head Boy duties Prongs?" Sirius joked.

"Pretty much," James said, running a hand through his already messy hair.

Sirius shook his head.

"I still can't believe you could betray us like this."

"I didn't betray you! C'mon, Dumbledore chose me, you know I would have much preferred Moony to get the badge," James argued.

"I'm glad I didn't," Remus countered, "James I know you'll be great at this."

"I'm not too sure I will be, how did I go from one of the biggest troublemakers at Hogwarts to Head Boy? I'm still not sure Dumbledore isn't entirely insane."

"James," Remus said seriously, "you deserve this. You're going to make a fantastic Head Boy, and you'll have Lily to help you, all right?"

"I guess that an upside," James smiled, thinking of working with Lily all year.

"Prongs, you have no excuse not to be going out with Evans by the end of the year – you'll have to talk to her every day! And she'll have no excuse not to!"

Ignoring Sirius, James turned to the fourth companion.

"What do you think, Wormtail?"

Peter looked up from the Chocolate Frog which he had half devoured.

"I think you'll be a fantastic Head Boy, Prongs!"

James smiled lightly, "Thanks Pete."

"We better go," Remus told him, "You don't want to be late to your first Prefect meeting."

"I guess not, we'll see you later guys!" James said, directing the last part towards Sirius and Peter who were currently poring over a Chocolate Frog card.

Remus rolled his eyes as James chuckled.

"I swear they have ADHD," Remus muttered, "One moment they're with you, the next, they're gone."

With this the two boys left the compartment and made their way to the front of the train where the Prefect meetings were held.

Remus, sensing James was nervous, put a hand out to stop him, and motioned for him to go into a nearby empty compartment.

A confused James did so and turned to looked confusedly at his friend.

"James, I know you're upset about what happened over the holidays, I can in no way relate to what you went through, but I want you to know that I'm here for you if you want to talk okay?" Remus reminded him.

James smiled sadly, "Thanks Moony. I just miss her, and I wish she got to see me be Head Boy. She would have been so shocked."

Remus laughed softly, "She would have been. But it's always hard to lose a family member, especially someone who is so close to you. I never got to meet my grandmothers but I know that you had a special bond with yours that can never be replaced. And what happened over the summer changed you, and made you a better person. I'm sure your grandmother would have been extremely proud if she could see you now."

"I used to be a bit of a prick didn't I," James admitted.

"Uh… sometimes," Remus acknowledged, bemused at his friend's sudden change in conversation.

James laughed. "I know I was Moony, don't pretend I wasn't. I was an arrogant toe-rag." James smiled as he used the name Lily had called him during one of their more memorable fights which had taken place after they took their OWLs. "Especially to Lily, she really hates me, and I don't blame her. I really need to apologize."

"Well, you'll have plenty of time to do that this year! But right now we really need to get the meeting."

And with that, the two Marauders quickly found the compartment which the Prefect meeting is held in and opened the door, surprised to see the Head Girl, none other than Lily Evans, sitting on her lonesome.

Hearing the door open, Lily looked up from the book she was currently reading to take in the new occupants of the compartment. Upon seeing Remus, she greeted him kindly, as they had become quite good friends over the years as they were Gryffindor Prefects together. When she turned to James, however, she was not as friendly.

"Potter, this is the compartment for the Heads and the Prefects," she explained, glaring at him.

"I know," James replied, smirking.

"Well, then you need to leave," Lily told him, wanting to wipe that smirk off his face while not instigating a fight at the same time.

"I'm quite aware of the rules," James said cheekily.

Remus, not wanting World War lll to start before his eyes, intervened before either of them, most likely Lily, burst and did something they would regret.

"James is Head Boy," he interjected.

"Excuse me, _what_?!" Lily near-shouted.

"I'mHeadBoy," James said quickly, wanting to get it over and done with as being on the receiving end of Lily's temper was not on his to-do list today.

The Head Girl was speechless and sat there with her mouth parted slightly, taking in this new information. From the outside she looked blank but inside her head her brain was whirring.

_How am I supposed to deal with Potter all year _and_ be expected to share the Head's dorm with him, _she thought,_ What was Dumbledore's problem? How had James Potter - Marauder, prankster and record holder of the most detentions ever issued at Hogwarts ended up as Head Boy? Maybe he had changed…_

_Rubbish,_ a voice in the back of her head contradicted her,_ he was still the same arrogant, big-headed toerag that messes up his hair to look cool. There was no way he could have changed._

_Well, he _could have_ changed. When I bumped into him before he seemed.. nice. Maybe I should give him a chance, he probably has changed, now that I think of it, he seemed more reserved and mature._

_Says the girl who's talking to herself, _the voice said.

_S_haking her head slightly to pull herself out of her reverie Lily realized James and Remus had been staring at her throughout the internal struggle in her head. But she was saved from saying anything more on the matter as the Prefects for the year filed into the compartment.

After everyone was settled, Lily and James introduced themselves as the Head Boy and Girl for the year and went over the usual rules and regulations, giving the Prefects the standard "don't abuse your powers," "be responsible," talk. While James was talking Lily saw how all the Prefects, especially the fifth years, were looking at him with a kind of awe as if they looked up to him.

"…Now I know that most of you are probably thinking, 'he can't talk, he wasn't even a prefect and he's one of the most troublesome kid at Hogwarts,' and that is, er, true, but I was, and still am, Quidditch captain and that has given me a sense of leadership," James was saying, "Being a leader is extremely important. Being a leader means that everyone will look up to you, and will follow what you do. Being a leader means you need to set the right example. Now I've done some pretty stupid things over the years," he paused here as the Prefects shared glances and smiles at each other as they remembered some of the pranks James and his fellow Marauders had done, "and I'm not going to try to neither deny nor justify my actions. But there is a time for fun and then there is a time to be serious. I'm not going to try to sugarcoat this, but these are dark times. Dark forces are rising and soon, you will need to show where your loyalties lie," as he said this he glanced surreptitiously at the Slytherin Prefects. "It's times like these that people will look to their leaders, which is you guys, and I hope that you show them the right way."

As he concluded his speech Lily stared at him, confused as to what had come over him. Never had she thought Potter would be able to say something like that and execute it as well as he did. She also noticed how passionate he was about the subject, like it was personal and he had a reason to fight for it.

"And on that note, we reach the end of our first Prefect meeting!" James smiled, trying to lighten the mood after his rather heart-felt speech, "We will let you all know when the next meeting is."

"Thank you," Lily added, still a bit stunned at this new James Potter.

The Prefects all left the compartment after a polite round of applause. On his way out Remus stopped to clap James on the shoulder and talk to him about how well he did for his first prefect meeting. While this was happening Lily busied herself packing her things into her bag and slinging it over her shoulder, to make it look like she wasn't eavesdropping. When she turned around she was surprised to see that Remus had left and it was just her and James left in the compartment.

"That wasn't too bad, huh? Did I go okay? I don't really know the procedure for things like these..." James smiled.

"No, you did fine," Lily replied, surprising herself that she was complimenting him, "And that speech… it was really… great."

James cheeks turned a light shade a pink as he mumbled a thank you.

_James Potter blushing – that's a first_, Lily thought to herself with a smile.

* * *

Lily pulled open the compartment door and fell into the first seat inside.

"Well hello to you, Lils," Marlene smiled bemusedly.

Lily grunted in response.

"So… who's Head Boy?" Mary asked carefully.

"Potter," Lily snarled.

"James Potter?!" Emma exclaimed, trying to act as though she didn't already know who Lily's fellow Head was.

"That is _BRAND NEW_ INFORMATION!" Alice cried.

Marlene, Emma and Mary looked at each other and shook their heads simultaneously; leave it to Alice to give it away.

Lily gave her best friend a sharp look.

"You already knew."

The four other Gryffindor girls looked around sheepishly.

"Yes," Emma admitted, "we knew."

The Head Girl shook her head with a small smile, knowing her friends as she did; she quickly forgave them for not telling her and began to continue recounting stories from their holidays to each other.

After mindless chatting the conversation returned to the subject of James Potter being appointed as Head Boy.

"How _are_ you going to deal with him this year, Lils?" Mary questioned the Head Girl.

"I really don't know…," the redhead replied, "don't blackmail me with this you guys, but.. during the Prefect meeting he seemed… different. He made an absolutely fantastic speech-"

Alice gasped. "Did Lily Evans just compliment James Potter? Has the world gone topsy-turvy?"

Lily rolled her eyes and jabbed her best friend in the side.

"Oh shut it. Anyways, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," at this she sent a glare towards Alice, "he was really mature. Maybe… he's changed… And he didn't try to ask me out once… He kind of looked like he really wanted to be friends or something… maybe I should give him a chance…"

As Lily drifted off, talking more to herself than to her friends, the other four Gryffindor girls shared a glance.

"Maybe she will give him a chance..," Alice surmised with one eyebrow raised.

"Well they do have to share their common room, lucky they don't have the same dorm of Lily probably would have offed herself," Marlene smiled, "but having to be around each other constantly should kind of force them to become friends and you never know, Lily might give him a chance!"

"Lily Evans give _James Potter_ a chance… I'll have to see it to believe it!" Mary laughed.

"Hey!" Lily exclaimed in outrage, "I'm right here!

"Really," Emma asked sarcastically, "we had no idea."

"Hardy-har-har Emmeline," Lily muttered, poking her tongue out at the blonde.

"There's our mature Head Girl," Marlene smirked.

"Hey!" Lily repeated, "I am extremely mature." As she said this she put both her hands on her hips with a dignified look on her face.

"Sure sure you are Lils," Alice smiled, hitting her friend lightly on the arm with a rolled up copy of the latest _Witch Weekly_ which she had just finished reading.

"Well," Emma murmured, "This is going to be an interesting year."


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: **

**Thank you for my (2) reviewers for my last chapter! You inspired me to write more so this chapter is dedicated to you :) **

**See end AN for more info on the actual story! Enjoy! :)**

* * *

"Samuels, Lachlan."

"_GRYFFINDOR_!"

The four marauders and the rest of Gryffindor house applauded loudly as the new Gryffindor made his way to the table after being sorted.

Sirius groaned. "Why does this take so long? I'm starving."

"When aren't you hungry?" James muttered under his breath.

"Never," Pete interjected.

"Sirius, the Sorting is important," Remus scolded him, "It's part of Hogwarts tradition and if we didn't do the Sorting there wouldn't be anyone in any houses."

"Translation: There would be no Slytherins for you to hex," James smirked.

Sirius looked up at the mention of hexing. "I see your point now," he chuckled.

Professor McGonagall, the strict head of Gryffindor house looked over at that moment to see the four seventh years, including the Head Boy and one of the Gryffindor Prefects. She sent them a glare which shut them up straight away. Professor McGonagall had a reputation for giving detentions and docking points at the slightest misbehavior. The professor was fair, but she was also strict and although she had a soft spot for the four boys, she wouldn't hesitate to give them punishments for mucking up.

"Let's not get on her bad side this year, alright?" Remus suggested.

"I think we already are," James replied with a grin.

* * *

A couple of seats down from the seventh year Gryffindor boys sat the seventh year Gryffindor girls.

"I don't remember us being that tiny when we were first years," Alice observed, while looking at the long line of first years which was slowly dwindling.

"They are quite small," Lily agreed.

"Small?" Mary repeated," They're miniature!"

Emma rolled her eyes, "They're not that tiny!"

Emma's brother Thomas was a first year and was still waiting nervously to be sorted. Feeling his uneasiness Emma caught his eye and gave him two thumbs up as well as a reassuring smile.

Marlene sighed. "I'm starving, how much longer will this take?"

Lily rolled her eyes at her friend while they clapped absentmindedly as "O'Sullivan, Dean" became a Ravenclaw.

"Embrace it! This is our last Sorting! We're never going to have a Welcoming Feast again," Lily pointed out sadly, hit with a sudden wave of nostalgia.

Alice smiled sadly as she put her arm around her best friend.

"It's alright, we have all year to make memories," she comforted Lily.

The redhead was spared replying by the voice of Professor McGonagall calling out "Vance, Thomas."

Emma returned her gaze to the front of the hall where her brother was currently making his way to the stool next to Professor McGonagall.

As soon as Thomas sat down he placed the Sorting Hat upon his head, which was only prevented from falling right down to his shoulders by his rather long and untidy blonde hair. The Hat considered for a moment before the rip near the brim opened yet again and shouted:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Emma clapped loudly and cheered as her younger brother made his way to the Gryffindor table, Thomas was looking as though he would rather nothing more than to sink into the floor and never be seen again.

"He really hates attention, doesn't he Em?" Mary noticed.

"Sure does," Emma replied, smirking.

The small line of first years still yet to be sorted slowly thinned. During the short pauses between the Hat's decisions and the names, Lily and the other girls could hear Marlene's stomach rumbling loudly. Lastly, as "Zarter, Rose" was sorted into Hufflepuff, Professor McGonagall collected the Hat and stool and took them away, Professor Dumbledore rose to his feet.

"To our newcomers," Dumbledore spoke with a beaming smile, "welcome! To our old comers – welcome back! You all seem extremely hungry and who am I to deprive you all of a fantastic meal? Tuck in!"

"Amen," Marlene muttered as food appeared out of nowhere, so that the long tables were groaning under the joint weight of pies and dished of vegetables, bread and sauces and flagons of pumpkin juice.

A short way down the table Sirius Black was feeling the same kind of starvation as Marlene and as soon as the food appeared he seized the closest plate of chicken wings and began hastily piling them onto his plate.

"Really Padfoot?" Remus sighed as Sirius moved on from the chicken wings and decided to tackle a plate of roast potatoes.

"Eem agro eenboi," he said.

His mouth was so full the three other marauders thought it was quite an achievement for him to be able to many any noise at all.

"What was that?" Peter laughed.

Sirius gave an enormous swallow and said, "I'm a growing boy."

"That you are, Sirius my friend, that you are…" James said, smiling in a knowing sort of way.

"Thanks! I think…" Sirius replied, looking for a way James may have insulted him, "Yeah, thanks."

James and Remus just laughed.

* * *

"It's so weird that I'm not going to be sharing a dorm with you guys anymore," Lily sighed.

"I know," Emma agreed.

"We had some great times in our dorm didn't we…" Alice reminisced.

The five seventh year Gryffindors were in the Gryffindor common room seated around the fire, savoring the time before Lily would have to leave to go to her own dorm.

The girls continued to chat for a while longer before Lily couldn't put it off any longer and rose to leave.

"Bye guys, I'll see you in the morning!" she told them.

After they had all said their goodbyes Lily caught Alice's eye and gestured to talk to her in private.

"What is it, Lils?" Alice asked.

"Um... well… I don't really know how to say this but… umm," Lily stalled.

"Spit it out, would you?" Alice said.

"I think I'm going to try to be friends with James," Lily said in a rush.

"Really?"

"Yes… well I want to be friends with him," Lily explained.

"That's great, Lily! He really likes you and although he doesn't show it I know that it hurts him when you always reject him."

"I know it does… so that's why I'm going to try to be friends with him. I think he really has changed though, he was so nice and… normal on the train."

"Well I think it's great," Alice assured her, "and you never know… friendship might turn into something more…"

"Alice!" Lily protested, "I don't like him like that!"

"Yet…" Alice replied mysteriously.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Good night, Alice."

* * *

As Lily made her way to the Heads dormitory many thoughts were running through her brain but she pushed them aside to dwell on later. One of the perks of being Head Girl or Boy was that you get your own dormitory and common room. Although Lily would never admit this, she was glad that it was James she would be with, not someone that barely even knew.

As she reached the Heads dorms she saw a portrait of a Fat Man and realized she didn't know the password.

Just as she was about to turn around and go to Dumbledore's office to ask for the password the portrait flung open and James Potter emerged.

"Er, hi," James said, obviously flustered as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Hi," Lily replied, "Can I er… come in?"

"Oh – yeah sure – right – sorry," James stammered, realizing he was blocking the way for Lily to get into the common room.

Lily smiled softly, before brushing past James and heading into the common room. As it was her first time seeing the Heads Dorms she took a minute to get her bearings.

The room was almost as large as the Gryffindor common room even though it only had two occupants. The polished wooden floorboards were covered in gold and scarlet rugs. On the immediate left was two doors, one leading into the bathroom which had a marble floor and white bath almost as big as a small swimming pool, two twin sinks with a long mirror along the wall above them, complete with two toilets and a shower as well. The second door led up a flight of stairs to James' room. In the middle of the room was a large, extremely comfortably looking couch surrounded by a few equally comfortably looking armchairs all facing a huge fireplace set into the wall James' room and the bathroom were in. On the right side there were also two doors, one leading up stairs to Lily's room which had a view of the Great Lake and the other to a storage cupboard of sorts. Back in the common room, the rest of the individual walls were covered by bookshelves filled to the brim with all different types of books. Also, two oak desks sat facing each other in front of the bookshelves. Along the wall where the portrait hole were numerous portraits of former Head Boy and Girls, these portraits intrigued Lily, she saw them as people who she had to live up to; her role models.

James, seeing Lily looking at the portraits of the previous occupants the room walked over to her.

"We'll be up there soon," he said looking up at the portraits.

"Yeah," Lily agreed sounding almost nervous, "I guess we will."`

"Lily, are you alright?" James asked.

"What if we can't live up to them?" Lily mumbled, gesturing to the portraits which covered the walls, "What if we are the worst Head Boy and Girl Hogwarts has ever seen?"

"Lily, Dumbledore chose us for a reason. Well he chose _you_ for a reason; I have no idea why he picked me. You are the smartest, funniest most beautiful girl I know. You are kind to everyone and will always help people no matter what. You are top of the class in pretty much everything and you always know how to cheer someone up. You are extremely talented and everybody absolutely loves you. You bring out the best in everybody when you're around. That's why Dumbledore chose you."

"Thank you James," Lily smiled, "I really appreciate that. But you're wrong. He chose you for a reason too. Everyone looks up to you. Everyone knows your name. You're famous here. Everyone follows what you do. You're a Marauder. You're Quidditch Captain. You're a natural born leader."

"I don't think being a Marauder has anything to do with it but, thanks Lily," James said, smiling softly at her. "I think that's the first compliment I've ever heard you give me."

"Well, it's true! You know… considering the amount of times I've told myself that you are an arrogant toerag and how much I despise you, I think I am beginning to… like you… rather an awful lot actually," Lily admitted as she wandered over to the couch and took a seat.

"Pardon? Um… erm… er-what?" James stammered.

"You changed," she remarked almost accusingly.

"Sorry," James mumbled following her over to the couch while he ran a hand though his hair, "I didn't realize I was doing it."

Lily laughed, "You don't need to apologize! I realized on the train that you wouldn't be hexing people for no good reason anymore. I said it before and I'll say it again; I really think what you said to the Prefects on the train was amazing. You really have changed and… I think it's for the better. But… why? Why did you change? And how could you not realize it?"

"Well... over summer, my grandma," James gulped, "was… er- killed."

Lily immediately softened and placed a hand on James' shoulder. "I'm so sorry, James."

"S'ok," he replied looking down.

Lily felt like asking how she has died, but didn't want to be insensitive. But she didn't have to worry because James could tell she was curious.

"I-I came home one day after being at Remus' and the Dark Mark was over the house and I went… in and she was… on the floor… not moving… dead," James' voice broke on the last word and Lily leant over to embrace him.

"Oh, James," Lily whispered.

"I'm gonna make her proud, though," James said strongly, "I will."

"You already have."

* * *

**AN:**

**OKAY! Don't think that Lily has given in to James' "charm" already. It may seem that she has already fallen head over heels for him even though it's only the second chapter but don't worry; I have a lot more in stall before they get together. **

**Please please please review and I will actually love you forever. Reviewers mean a lot to me and inspire me to write more!**


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